


Good Boy

by TipsyRaconteur



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Dogs, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Humor, So Many Dogs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-30
Updated: 2018-08-30
Packaged: 2019-07-04 17:49:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,824
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15846306
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TipsyRaconteur/pseuds/TipsyRaconteur
Summary: Love, coffee… and dogs. A lot of dogs. Previously posted on Tumblr.





	1. Part One

**Author's Note:**

> This is just a silly little fluff story that I wrote for Tumblr (my handle there is also tipsyraconteur if you’d like to follow me). I was curious about writing something without smut in it, and this is what happened. This is a modern coffee shop AU, and that’s all you really need to know. 
> 
> Eternal thanks to Nyxako for being such an awesome beta.

“Welcome to the Konoha Grind,” Sakura mumbled insincerely as she heard the shop’s bell tinkle in the doorway. She didn’t even look up, instead staring vacantly down as she finished wiping the counter.

It had been a long day, starting with a flat tire, followed by a nearly-failing grade on a particularly difficult anatomy test, and rounding out with a night shift at the coffee shop when all she wanted to do was sleep. It was enough to make her want to give up on med school altogether.

At the sound of someone clearing their throat on the other side of the register, Sakura lethargically straightened and grabbed an empty cup and marker, ready to take the order. She barely even looked at the person standing in front of her. “What can I get you?”

“A medium flat white and a puppuccino, please,” came a male voice that, even to her tired ears, sounded deep and pleasant.

Finally glancing up, Sakura paused in the action of writing the order. “I can do the flat white, but I don’t know what a puh— whatever you said is,” she said, studying the man in front of her. He was definitely older than her, but not as old as his shock of silver hair would've led her to believe. The fluffy navy scarf he wore wrapped around the lower half of his face complimented the blue sweater and jeans he’d worn against the brisk weather, and above the scarf his dark eyes were smiling. Her tired mind absently noted the long scar over his right eye.

“A puppuccino,” he supplied. “I think it’s a Starbucks thing?” He shifted the backpack strap slung over his shoulder as he watched her.

Sakura blinked, frowning a little as she pointed at the logo on the cup that she held. “We’re not Starbucks. We’re the Konoha Grind. I can’t make those,” she said slowly, hoping he'd get the message this time.

“Sure you can,” he replied genially. “All you need to do is put whipped cream in a cup and give it to a dog. Instant puppuccino.”

Trying to scowl at him, Sakura ended up pouting instead. “You’re going to be difficult, aren’t you?”

A quiet laugh floated out from the scarf, and he responded easily, “Maybe a little, but I think it’s kind of charming, don’t you? If it makes things easier, then I’ll just take the flat white.”

Sakura gave a relieved sigh and resumed writing his order on the cup, glad he’d dropped the subject, only for him to add, "And a small cup. With whipped cream in it. For a dog.”

This time, Sakura did scowl at him, which only made him laugh again.

“You’re not having a very good day, are you?” he said, tilting his head.

“Well,” Sakura began waspishly, “It might have something to do with customers who think they’re _charming_ giving me a hard time.”

He leaned in slightly, little creases appearing at the corner of his eyes as they smiled at her, and she found herself wondering what he looked like beneath the scarf. “I’ll stop giving you a hard time if you just give me one teeny, tiny little cup of whipped cream."

Trying to ignore her thoughts about what the rest of his face looked like, Sakura tipped her chin up willfully. “You don’t even have a dog.”

His eyes creased again as he shifted the strap from his shoulder, swinging a black backpack around to his front. Sticking its head out the open zippered pouch was a grumpy-looking pug, the kind of dog that was so ugly that it circled back around to being cute.

“Say hi, Pakkun,” he said.

“Boof,” said Pakkun.

“Pakkun, haven’t you been a good boy? And don’t good boys deserve a puppuccino?” He asked the pug in a crooning voice.

“Boof,” Pakkun repeated.

Okay, that was pretty adorable. Sakura’s shoulders drooped as she gave in. “Fine. One medium flat white and one… I’m _not_ saying it,” she finished imperiously.

He gave her puppy-dog eyes that perfectly fit the situation. “But you _have_ to say it.”

They stared at each other stubbornly for a long moment, and then Sakura sighed.

“…Puppuccino.”

He beamed at her, his eyes twinkling, and she let out a huff that was half laughter and half exasperation. At that moment, she wasn’t sure what came over her—maybe it was the fact that he _was_ kind of charming—but she suddenly added, “You haven’t given me your name.”

Without missing a beat, he answered, “You haven’t given me yours, either.”

Sakura felt heat rising to her cheeks. “I mean, for your cup. So you know it’s yours. I’m supposed to ask.” Great, she sounded like an idiot.

“Oh, really?” he asked, pausing thoughtfully. “I just wanted to know your name.” Before she had a chance to respond, he added, “I’m Kakashi.”

Feeling flustered and like she couldn’t quite keep up with the conversation, she said, “I’m Sakura.” Before he could continue, she quickly spoke again. “Your order will be ready in a minute."

Turning, Sakura moved to the hot bar as she scribbled his name on the cup, willing her cheeks to cool. She never flirted with customers, although they often flirted with her, but she was pretty sure that’s what she’d just been doing. Chancing a glance over her shoulder, she found that he was quietly watching her work, and she quickly returned to what she was doing.

With the espresso machine brewing and the milk steaming, she reached for one of the small cups that they served espresso shots in and grabbed the whipped cream canister. With a slight flourish, she filled the cup with a fluffy spiral of whipped cream. Turning, she moved back to the counter and held it out to Kakashi.

“One puppuccino,” she said, lips quirking slightly.

Kakashi hummed in response, plucking the cup from her hand with long fingers. His free hand lifted to casually pull the scarf down, and Sakura swallowed. He was good looking—like, really good looking, with the kind of sharp features you expect to see in the pages of a magazine, complete with a beauty mark beneath his lower lip.

When he lifted the cup to his lips and licked the tip of the whipped cream, his eyes meeting hers, Sakura felt the blood rush back into her face.

“That wasn’t for you,” she squeaked, her voice embarrassingly higher than before.

Holding her gaze and smirking slightly, Kakashi smoothly responded, “I’m also a very good boy.” Above the smirk, his eyes smoldered.

Sakura’s lips parted, but no sound came out. She knew had to look like a fish out of water and scrambled for something to say. Thankfully, she was saved by the sound of her friend and coworker Ino returning from her break and calling out a hello as she made her way behind the counter.

“What is this, a medium flat white?” Ino asked breezily, answering her own question as she looked at the order written on the cup. Sakura turned to her and nodded unnecessarily, and Ino checked on the steamed milk. “I’ll finish it,” Ino said, her cornflower-blue eyes pointedly flickering to Kakashi. She clearly had a favorable opinion of their latest customer and wanted to take care of him herself.

Sakura held back a frown. She had long ago learned not to compete with her bombshell friend for the affections of men. Not that it mattered—he was just some guy.

Right?

When Sakura turned back to face him, Kakashi was holding the cup for Pakkun, who was eating the whipped cream with great enthusiasm. The heated look was gone from his eyes, and the dangerous smirk was gone as well.

“Your order will be ready in a minute,” Sakura said, for lack of anything better to say.

He smiled a smile made more appealing by the fact that it was slightly lopsided. "You said that already." Sakura gave him a small smile in return as Ino stepped up beside her, holding the drink out.

“Medium flat white for Kakashi?” Ino asked in a tone that was syrupy-sweet.

“That’s me,” he answered, his tone vaguely pleasant as he took the drink.

“Is there anything else I can get for you?” Ino asked, leaning on the counter. She even batted her eyelashes, something that made Sakura hold back a snort of disbelief.

“No thanks, I have to get going,” Kakashi answered, moving back from the counter and lifting his cup in a lazy salute. “Have a good evening, ladies,” he said, his gaze moving from Ino to Sakura before he turned and headed for the door.

They both watched him go, because of _course_ he had a fantastic ass, when suddenly Ino snapped to attention. “Hey, you didn’t pay for your drink!” she called, her voice slightly less sweet than before.

Kakashi paused, halfway out the door, and laughed lightly, a sheepish look on his face. “Ah, well, you see… I forgot my wallet. I’ll get you tomorrow. I promise.”

Sakura and Ino both watched, a little shocked by his audacity, as he continued through the door—and then he paused, poking his head back through the doorway. His eyes were focused on Sakura as he asked, “Do you work tomorrow?”

Ino turned her head to look wide-eyed at Sakura, who blinked and responded, “I work tomorrow night.”

“Excellent.” He beamed at her, then pulled his scarf up and stepped through the door. The last thing Sakura saw was Pakkun’s face poking out of his backpack, before the door swung shut.

“Hmm,” Ino said, eyeing Sakura, an interested gleam in her eye. “He barely even looked at me. He seemed to be really into you, though,” she said, in a tone that implied that she found it deliciously scandalous.

“Maybe,” Sakura said noncommittally, but when she turned around to join Ino in cleaning the bar, she couldn’t hide the smile that crept over her face.


	2. Part Two

It was stupid to care if he showed up. Extremely stupid.

Sakura sighed inwardly as she outwardly plastered a smile on her face, counting change for the last customer who currently stood in line. It was already two hours into her evening shift, and it was the point of the evening when the shop was usually empty, with most people eating dinner. The lull gave her enough time to think about how Kakashi, the mysterious dog-wearing man from the night before, hadn’t shown up.

Not that she cared. Because she didn't.

Besides, why would she want him to show up? The man hadn't even paid for his drink—something Sakura had to personally explain to her boss—and a free drink was probably the only goal he'd had. He'd probably had a good laugh at her expense afterward: poor, silly Sakura, flirt with her a little and she won't even notice when you rob her blind.

Sakura scowled. Here she was, sulking over some guy who’d skipped out on paying. It was ridiculous.

The bell over the door jingled. Sakura turned, calling out, "Welcome to Konoha Grind!"

Her mouth snapped shut when she saw Kakashi come into view. He was wearing the same fluffy navy scarf as before with jeans and a grey thermal, same backpack over his shoulder—but this time he also held a leash in his hand. The scruffy-looking dog at the end of it was wearing a harness that looked like a vest, and it looked inordinately pleased to be out with its master.

Sakura crossed her arms, frowning at him. "I hope you remembered your wallet this evening."

He had the grace to look embarrassed, his free hand lifting to tug the scarf down beneath his chin as he gave an awkward laugh. "I really didn't mean to do that. I just saw the 'Dogs Welcome' sign yesterday, and one thing led to another," he said, gesturing to the sign in the window.

"Mmhmm,” Sakura said, unimpressed.

"But look,” he said, gesturing to the grey dog who stood beside him. "I brought a new friend. He wanted to meet you.”

Sakura looked at the dog. The dog looked at her. He was cute, in a slightly mussed way—sort of like his owner—and Sakura thought the wild tuft of darker fur on the top of his head was pretty adorable. She softened a little.

"I don't know," she hedged. "I'm not sure if he's cute enough to get you out of trouble."

Kakashi leaned down toward the dog, and in a quietly firm voice, said, "Shiba! Speak!"

The dog abruptly sat on its haunches, threw back his head, and went, "Awoooo!"

In spite of herself, Sakura let out a delighted laugh, clapping her hands. Leaning over the counter, she cooed, "Good boy!" Shiba responded by letting his mouth hang open in a doggy grin, tongue lolling out.

Kakashi was watching her with a pleased look in his eye. "You like dogs."

Though it wasn’t a question, Sakura answered anyway. “I love dogs, but I don’t spend enough time at home to keep one myself. Can I pet him?”

"Sure," he responded. Sakura took off her green apron and came around the counter, crouching in front of the friendly-looking dog and holding out her hand. Shiba immediately and enthusiastically offered her his paw, and she giggled as she shook it. She noticed that the vest he was wearing had a little scarecrow face on the back of it.

When she released his paw, Shiba immediately offered it to her again. She laughed, shook it, released it—and he offered it to her again.

"Oh, uh, he's probably going to keep doing that. I trained him to do it by giving him treats, so now he just thinks that he'll get a treat every time he does it." Kakashi followed her lead and dropped into an easy crouch, affectionately patting Shiba on the head. "We're working on it."

“Still, he’s pretty well behaved,” Sakura complimented, having completely forgotten that she was supposed to be mad at Kakashi. She looked up, meeting his eyes. They were a soft grey that she told herself she did _not_ find extremely appealing. “Do you have any treats on you?”

Wordlessly, he reached for a little pouch clipped onto the pocket of his jeans. Opening the zipper, he reached inside and pulled out two treats. Sakura held out her hand for them, ignoring the little thrill she felt when his fingers brushed her palm.

She looked at the treats, and then back to him. “I can give him two?”

His eyes creased in a smile. “One of them is for Pakkun.” A muted ‘boof’ came from behind him.

Sakura brightened, leaning forward and around Kakashi’s shoulder to pet the pug, whose head poked out of Kakashi’s backpack. “How could I forget such a sweet boy?” she crooned, feeding him one of the treats. Kakashi turned his head to watch her, his eyes warm, and—suddenly aware of how close he was—Sakura flushed, leaning back.

Looking back to Shiba, she laughed to see the dog straining to hold his paw as high as he possibly could. Feeding him his treat, she asked, “How many dogs do you have?”

Kakashi gave a short, quiet laugh, looking away. “…A few.”

Taking his reticence as a sign that their little chat was over, Sakura stood, remembering that she had a job to do. “Let me just wash my hands and I’ll take your order.” Walking behind the counter, she took a few moments to wash her hands in the small sink, before putting her apron back on and turning back to Kakashi. “What can I get you?”

“Medium flat white, two puppuccinos,” he replied.

Rather than writing his order on a cup, she went straight for the cash register and started ringing him up. “That’ll be fifteen dollars and 76 cents.”

Two silver brows shot upward. “That sounds… kind of expensive.”

She gave him an unimpressed look. “It’s $10.76 for two flat whites. Today’s, and yesterday’s.”

He gave her the same lopsided smile that she’d found so engaging the evening before. “And the other five dollars?”

Finally giving him a devious little smirk in return, she resolutely pointed to the jar marked ‘Tips’. “There’s a five dollar charge for the talk I had to have with my boss about a certain thief.”

“Fair is fair, I suppose.” He heaved a dramatic sigh and drew a leather billfold out of his back pocket. As he drew out a few bills, handing some to her and stuffing the others in the tip jar, he raised a brow. “You seem like you’re having a better day than yesterday, at least.”

“Yesterday I got a really low grade on an anatomy test. Today, my professor told me he’d let me retake it,” she called over her shoulder as she grabbed a medium cup and began to make his drink.

He hummed thoughtfully behind her. “Anatomy test, huh? You’re a med student?”

Leaving the espresso to brew, she held the milk beneath the steam wand with one hand while reaching for two shot cups with the other. “Yep. Working at the Grind is just how I make up the gap between what my scholarship covers and what I actually need.” She placed both cups beside each other on the bar and filled each of them with whipped cream.

“A med student with a scholarship, no less. That’s not easy to do.”

Leaving the milk for a moment, she took both cups of whipped cream and turned to face him again, holding them out. “I’m not an easy kind of girl.”

Sakura realized what that sounded like much too late, her eyes widening. Kakashi’s face crumpled for a moment, his lips pressing together as he clearly tried not to laugh.

“I’m sure you’re very difficult,” he finally managed in an admirably casual voice. 

Sakura could feel the heat rush into her cheeks and knew she had to be bright red. “Shut up,” she warned.

He held up both of his hands in a placating manner, but he was grinning as he took the two cups from her.

Letting out a little huff, Sakura turned back to the hot bar, focusing on pouring his flat white and letting her stupid cheeks cool down. When she turned back around, she paused with the finished drink in her hand, smiling slightly at the sight before her. Kakashi stood with Pakkun’s backpack slung around to rest against his chest and stomach, feeding one cup of whipped cream to the pug while Shiba happily stuck his snout in the other cup.

“Your flat white is ready,” she said unnecessarily, approaching the counter and setting the drink down since he didn’t have any free hands.

“Do they often leave you all alone here at night?” he asked as he stacked the two now-empty cups together and casually (and a little impressively) tossed them across the room into the nearest trash can. Then he winced a little. “I really didn’t mean that to sound so creepy.”

Sakura grinned. She wasn’t the only one who could sound like an idiot. “It’s okay. Saturday and Sunday nights I work with a coworker, but Monday through Wednesday I’m on my own.”

“That seems kind of dangerous.” Kakashi tipped his head to the side as he cast his gaze over the coffee shop. “Do you have wifi?”

Blinking at sudden the non sequitur, Sakura said, “Yes?” making it sound like a question.

“Are you against people camping out and doing work here?” he asked, ignoring her obvious curiosity.

“People do it all the time,” she answered.

“Also… is there a limit on the number of dogs I can bring?” he continued in a serious voice.

Sakura let out a short laugh. “I’ve never been asked that question before.”

“…Because Shiba really likes difficult women who also like dogs.” Kakashi’s face was casually expressionless, like he was discussing the weather. “And he has friends.”

Trying and failing to keep the smile from her face, Sakura gestured at the empty shop. “Well, there’s plenty of room this time of night.” She couldn’t stop herself from putting her hands on her hips and teasing, “Tell Shiba that his friends are welcome as long as they’re well-behaved.”

“Oh, Shiba and Pakkun only associate with good boys,” he said with a wicked smile as he picked up his flat white and walked backward toward the door.

“Somehow I doubt that,” Sakura said, rolling her eyes yet still smiling. “Have a good night, Kakashi.”

“See you soon,” he said with a salute of his cup, leading Shiba outside and letting the door swing shut behind him.


	3. Part Three

“Large triple vanilla latte, one quad shot, and two triple café mochas. Is that everything?” Sakura asked the group of tired-looking students in front of her. They all nodded their assent. “That’ll be $18.56.” She made change for a twenty and gave them all a bright smile. “I’ll have those ready in just a moment.”

As she moved to the hot bar to begin preparing the drinks, Sakura held back a sigh. It had been another long day, and she was more than ready for the steady stream of customers to slow down. It was almost dinnertime, though, so she hoped that once she worked through the current queue of customers, things would slow down.

The next twenty minutes passed in a blur of cheerful greetings and drink making and money exchanging hands. When she had only three people left to serve, she heard the tinkle of the bell above the door and called out her customary “Welcome to Konoha Grind!”, only to see a familiar head of disheveled silver hair poke through the door.

Sakura’s stomach did a little flip as he smiled at her, and she smiled back as she wrote an order on a cup. He was wearing his usual dog-approved backpack, but he also had a laptop case slung over his shoulder, and a leash—no, three leashes—in one hand. Sakura bit her lip against a giggle as Shiba and two other dogs followed him in. How many dogs did he have?

By the time she finished serving all of the other customers besides Kakashi, he’d settled himself at one of the larger empty tables and appeared to be completely focused on whatever he was looking at on his laptop. Busying herself once more, Sakura made a medium flat white and four small cups of whipped cream, and then approached the table, somehow managing to hold all five cups by stacking the small ones. 

She grinned a little to herself as she took in the scene before her. Kakashi had his laptop in front of him, with several different sets of papers and a notebook arrayed around him. Pakkun sat resolutely in the seat beside him, his flat little face just barely peeking up over the edge of the table. Shiba and the new dogs all lay arrayed under the table at Kakashi’s feet. Sakura chuckled to herself as she noticed Kakashi squinting while a pair of folded glasses lay unused on the table beside him.

“You know, wearing those would probably be a lot more effective than leaving them on the table,” she said with humor in her voice as she set the flat white beside him.

Blinking as he drew his attention away from the screen, Kakashi looked up at her, and then to the glasses she was referring to. “Right,” he said, picking them up and unfolding them in order to put them on. “I take them off sometimes because they make my ears hurt.” 

Finding herself inwardly musing about how cute some men looked in glasses, Sakura’s smile widened. “You could get them adjusted if they’re uncomfortable,” she suggested for lack of anything better to say. 

A sudden weight resting on her foot distracted her, and Sakura looked down to see one of the yet-to-be-introduced dogs decisively sitting on it. He looked up at her, prodding at her hand with a wet nose and looking at her with big solemn eyes. Sakura immediately began stroking his head, smiling. The dog responded by letting out a sigh and leaning against her leg. 

Kakashi had a fond grin on his face as he leaned back away from his laptop. “That’s Uhei.”

“He’s really interesting looking,” Sakura said, noting his broad face and long, slender body. “Do you know what breed he is?”

“My best guess is some mix of bull terrier and greyhound. Pakkun’s the only purebred that I have,” Kakashi replied. 

Sakura began to scratch behind Uhei’s ears and the dog let out a contented groan. She laughed. 

“He really likes you,” Kakashi said in a warm tone.

Sakura looked up, meeting his eyes, and they smiled at each other. “I like him too,” she replied. They looked at each other a moment longer before Sakura got embarrassed and changed the subject. Holding her hand out, she made grabby fingers. “Treats please.”

While he rummaged in the pouch clipped to his pocket, she gently moved Uhei off her foot and crouched down to look under the table. “Who’s the other new guy?” she said, eyeing the smaller brown floppy-eared dog sitting quietly by Kakashi’s feet.

“That’s Bisuke. He’s a little shy, but he’s friendly.” 

“Hi Bisuke,” Sakura said softly, encouraged by the slow wagging of the dog’s tail. “You’ll let me give you a treat, won’t you?” She gave a treat to Shiba first, who happily gobbled it up. Holding out her hand, palm up, she offered a treat to Bisuke without leaning any closer. He eventually crept just far enough toward her to take the treat from her hand and then retreat to his master’s side while crunching on it. Sakura beamed. 

Beside her, Uhei let out another groan that turned into a whine. Kakashi laughed. “You can’t just make him fall in love with you and then give other dogs treats.”

“It’s not my fault,” Sakura countered in a singsong voice as she patted Uhei on the head and gave him his treat. “I can’t help it. I’m irresistible to good boys.” 

Kakashi paused in the action of giving Pakkun his treat, the corner of his mouth quirking as he quietly murmured, “Indeed.” 

Sakura felt a little thrill go through her. She felt like she kept losing her footing; one minute they’d be talking about dogs, and the next they were flirting. At least, she was 99% certain it was flirting—she wasn’t very practiced at it. Unsure what to do next, she found herself changing the subject again. “What kind of work are you doing, anyway?”

“I’m a freelance writer,” he answered. “I do a lot of work for online publications. Right now, though, I’m just catching up on email,” he continued with a bored sigh, eyes flicking to the laptop. “It’s not very interesting, but it has to be done. I thought I’d do it here and give you some company,” he finished, his gaze returning to her. 

Sakura stood, patting Uhei again. “You won’t hear me complain. It always gets slow this time of night, and kind of lonely.” Pausing for a moment, a little awkwardly, she finally said, “I should get back to work, and let you get back to your emails.”

“Just let me know when you need us to get out of your hair. Oh, and here’s what I owe for my drink. You can keep the change.” Pulling out his billfold, he handed her a few bills, his eyes creasing in another smile. Thanking him, Sakura gave Uhei one last pat before returning to the counter.

For the next hour and a half, Sakura kept herself busy. The occasional customer would float in and she’d take care of them with her usual brisk efficiency and friendly smile. When there were no customers, she’d work on her closing duties, beginning with shutting down and cleaning the half of the hot bar that she could get away with closing before the end of the night. Kakashi mostly stayed focused on his laptop, pausing at one point to feed each pup their puppuccino, but one time she’d caught him smiling at her while she was humming to herself. She’d blushed, knowing she was pretty tone deaf, and stuck her tongue out at him before returning to wiping the counters. 

Having finished all of the pre-cleaning that she could behind the counter, she soon moved out to the main part of the shop. Uhei perked up when he saw her, picking his loose leash up in his mouth and moving to follow her. Kakashi looked up long enough to ask if the dog was being a bother, but Sakura waved him off, happily letting the dog follow her around as she refilled napkin containers and wiped down tables. 

When there were only a few minutes left until the shop was closed, she approached Kakashi’s table again and lightly drummed her fingers on the table to get his attention. When he blinked up at her, looking a little worn out, she smiled and jingled the keys she held in her hand. “I have to lock the doors soon. You should probably give yourself a break, anyway.”

He gave a quiet laugh. “Yeah, you’re probably right.” He closed his laptop decisively and began to gather his things and put them in his laptop bag. “Thanks for letting me camp out tonight.”

“Usually there are one or two people who come to hang out, but if you hadn’t been here tonight I’d have been completely alone for most of it.” She chewed on her lip for a moment before adding, “I really do appreciate you bringing these guys in and cheering me up. It’s nice of you.”

Raising his brows, he affected a nonchalant manner. “You say that like I’m showing up with a steadily increasing number of dogs just to see you smile.” His lips curved into a lazy smirk. “That would be insane.” 

Sakura ducked her head a little, feeling her face heat up. “You’re an idiot,” she said, trying for a scowl and smiling instead. 

He laughed in a slightly cocky way, as if to imply that she liked that he was an idiot, and set about lifting Pakkun into his bag. Soon he stood and slung both bags over his shoulders. Sakura busied herself by gathering the ends of all of the leashes, handing them to Kakashi when he’d adjusted his bags into a comfortable position. After giving the table a once-over to make sure he didn’t leave anything behind, he moved toward the door, and Sakura followed.

“I’ll be here again tomorrow night if you need somewhere to work,” she commented lightly as she opened the door for him and his mob of dogs. 

“I wouldn’t miss it.” Pausing, Kakashi gave her a long look.

“What?” she said with a laugh, feeling self-conscious.

“Hold still.” Reaching out his free hand, he ran his fingers lightly through the candy-colored strands of hair that framed her face. A small smile curled his lips.

“Do I have something in my hair?” Sakura asked, imagining streaks of whipped cream and coffee grounds. 

“…Nope.” Letting her hair slide from his fingers, he grinned at her, his scarred eyelid dropped in a quick wink. “Have a good night Sakura.”

Cheeks burning, mouth slightly ajar, Sakura watched him turn and walk toward the parking lot. She blurted out the first thing that came to mind. “Stop making me blush!” 

She heard him laugh, and over his shoulder he called, “Not a chance. See you tomorrow.”

A little stunned, she stepped back and swung the door shut, locking it before letting her forehead rest against the cool wood. Her laugh, when it came, was breathy and echoed warmly in the empty shop.


	4. Part Four

The next day, Sakura started her shift with a smile on her face and a song in her heart. Well, not really, but she definitely began the shift in a good mood. It was hard not to feel positive: she’d totally aced her make-up test with her professor and she was about to have two days off that she could spend catching up on schoolwork and sleep. Most importantly, however, was the company she was expecting during her shift that day.

Maybe it was stupid to feel so excited, but she was excited. 

Four days ago, Kakashi had been a strange man with a pug who’d flirted with her before not paying for his drink. Now… well, she was starting to hope that he’d be more. Maybe a lot more. When Sakura had made the dubious decision to call Ino and ask her for advice, Ino had squealed “ASK HIM OUT” loud enough that Sakura had had to pull the phone away from her ear.

Sakura wasn’t sure she had the courage to do that. But maybe she could handle reminding him that she had the next two days off, in the hopes that he would ask her out himself. Sure, it was pretty cowardly, and that didn’t exactly sit well with Sakura, but neither did asking out a customer while she was at work. Somehow, she thought her boss would frown on that. 

Sakura didn’t want to piss off Hana. Hana was the older sister of Sakura’s friend Kiba, and the last thing Sakura wanted to do was upset her boss, especially since it would also reflect badly on Kiba’s recommendation that she work there. And after the conversation she’d had to have with Hana earlier that week about a certain unpaid-for drink, Sakura was probably on thin ice already. 

As if her very thoughts had summoned her, Sakura felt her stomach drop as she heard the sound of the back door opening and her boss’s voice ringing through the air. 

“Hey Sakura,” Hana said easily as she locked the back door behind her. “I’ve had to rearrange my schedule this week, so I thought I’d come in and do inventory tonight,” she said, smiling brightly.

Sakura forced what she hoped was a believable smile in return. It was a few hours before the time when Kakashi came in, but who knew how long inventory would last? If Hana was still here when Kakashi arrived with four dogs, Sakura wasn’t sure how she would react.

And it had to be four dogs. He had to have run out by now, right?

“Is there anything I can do to help?” Sakura asked hopefully. Maybe she could hurry this along.

“No, I just need you to run the shop. I’ll try not to get in your way too much.” As Hana set down her bag and plucked her inventory clipboard from the wall, Sakura held back a sigh. All she could do now was hope that inventory was finished before Kakashi made his grand appearance.

For the next two hours, Sakura handled customers while Hana puttered around the shop counting things. She counted milk jugs, syrup bottles, and boxes of napkins and stir sticks. Sakura mostly tried to ignore her steadily growing anxiety and failed miserably every time she checked the time. However, a certain fatalistic mood began to settle over her as the clock hands crept closer to what she thought of as “Kakashi Time”. After all, he was just a customer who had some dogs, and they were a coffee shop that was dog-friendly. So, it wasn’t like either of them were doing anything wrong.

…Right?

“Sakura.” Hana’s voice suddenly interrupted her thoughts, and Sakura turned to take in the sight of Hana counting the various sizes of cups. “Do you know why we’re missing shot cups?”

Without thinking, Sakura answered, “No, I don’t know why we would be—” and then stopped, trailing off. Puppuccinos. Goddamn puppuccinos. 

Hana’s eyes narrowed. “Sakura?” 

Sakura gave a wincing smile. “Well, you see, we’ve had a customer lately who likes to bring in his dogs, and Starbucks does this thing where they give out little cups of whipped cream and call them puppuccinos…”

Hana folded her arms, looking unimpressed. “And you thought we needed to keep up with Starbucks, apparently. Did you not realize that would throw off inventory? It looks like theft, Sakura.”

Sakura swallowed. Why did she have to have so many conversations with her boss regarding Kakashi and thievery? “Well, I figured that we don’t charge for extra whipped cream, so it would be okay.” When Hana’s expression didn’t change, Sakura sighed. “I didn’t think about the cups. I’m sorry.”

Hana watched her narrow-eyed for a moment longer, and then a curious little smirk crept over her face. “So… who’s this new customer?”

Fuck. Sakura felt her face start to get hot, and her voice was a trifle squeaky when she answered, “What? Which customer?” Smooth, real smooth.

Hana casually inspected the nails of her right hand, although she was obviously still watching Sakura from the corner of her eye. “You never break the rules, and now you’ve broken them twice in one week.”

“I— Well, I mean, I just made a few mistakes. It’s a coincidence.”

“So, you’re telling me puppuccino customer isn’t also didn’t-pay-for-a-drink customer?” Hana’s smile had begun to take on a positively wolfish quality. “He must be cute.”

Sakura opened her mouth to make some sort of excuse—just what kind of excuse, she wasn’t sure—when she was saved by the tinkle of the bell over the door. At least, she thought she was saved, until she looked over and saw a certain lanky figure in the doorway. 

Kakashi leaned casually in the door, holding it open, smiling lazily. Lifting one silver brow, he whistled—and then the dogs started walking in. 

"Oh, no," Sakura whispered to herself in mounting horror. But there was no stopping it.

First was Pakkun. Out of the backpack for once, he was wearing the same blue halter that all of Kakashi's other dogs had worn, but it was so small and cute that Sakura had to repress the urge to make a very awkward high-pitched noise. Next came Shiba, and the Bisuke. All of them were holding their own leashes in their mouths. When Uhei came in the door, he paused briefly and wagged his tail before continuing forward. 

That wasn't the end of Kakashi's dog parade, though.

Another smaller brown floppy-eared dog stepped through the door, followed by two other dogs of lanky, medium build. All three looked like mutts of indistinguishable breeds. But the last dog that came in caused both of Sakura's hands to fly up over her mouth. He was a dark dog whose breed wasn't immediately obvious—definitely some bulldog, maybe some bull mastiff—but he was easily the largest dog that Sakura had ever seen, the top of his head reaching higher than Kakashi's waist. 

All eight dogs filed into a line before the counter, and each of them sat politely, still holding their leashes in their mouths. Completely ignoring her shocked expression, Kakashi let the door swing shut and approached the counter himself.

"Medium flat white and eight puppuccinos, please," he said pleasantly, like he hadn’t just released a canine horde upon her workplace. 

“Kaka—” Sakura began, trying not to cringe, but she was cut off.

“Kakashi Hatake, why the hell are you standing in my coffee shop with every dog you have?” Hana’s voice boomed from behind her. Sakura turned to blink at her. “Let me guess… you’re the new customer I keep hearing about?”

“Oh, hi Hana. I didn’t know you worked here,” Kakashi replied in that same pleasant, unflappable voice. “It’s nice to see you outside the shelter.”

Confused, Sakura asked, “You know each other?”

Hana snorted, smirking at Kakashi. “You know I volunteer at the animal shelter. This guy,” she said, pointing at Kakashi, who looked admirably unphased by her ire, “is the guy they call when there’s a dog no one else will adopt.” 

Sakura turned to look at him, briefly distracted from the tense situation. "Really? You take all the dogs that no one else wants?" 

"No," Kakashi answered, looking offended, as if there was no way he would be that much of a sucker. After a long, pregnant pause, he added, "I only take the ones that Pakkun likes." Another pause. "Mostly. Pakkun didn't really like Shiba at first. I had to talk him into it." From the front of the line of dogs came a small, disgruntled 'boof'.

Sakura really wanted to ask how one went about talking a pug into something, but she decided it wasn’t the time. Especially when Hana glared from her to Kakashi and then said, “Neither of you have answered my question. Why are you here with all of your dogs?”

There was a moment when Sakura and Kakashi both looked at each other and then back at Hana, and then they both started speaking at the same time. 

“Well, he saw the ‘Dogs Welcome’ sign in the window—"

“Oh, it’s really a simple explanation. I really like Sakura—”

“And when he asked what the limit was I didn’t know what to tell him because no one’s ever asked that—”

“And I thought I’d bring in a whole bunch of dogs to try and impress her.”

Sakura had trailed off, belatedly registering what he’d said about liking her, and was now struggling not to turn red again. Hana had her arms folded and was staring at him.

“It seemed like a good idea at the time,” Kakashi finished blithely, though the smile he gave was a little sheepish. 

Hana was now pinching the bridge of her nose, her eyes squeezed shut. “Sakura,” she said slowly. “Make the man his drink.” Opening her eyes, she pointed at Kakashi again. “You. Take your dogs outside. There’s not enough room for them in here. And pay for your drink first!” she added as Kakashi started to move toward the door. 

Kakashi chuckled awkwardly as he moved back toward the counter. “Right. Of course.”

In the awkward silence that followed, Sakura rang up Kakashi and made his change, both of them endeavoring to ignore the indistinct muttering coming from Hana, who had returned to her clipboard. Sakura quickly moved to make his flat white, very carefully not looking in Hana’s direction as she did so, and also avoiding looking at Kakashi. 

“Medium flat white,” she said in a meek voice devoid of her usual cheer as she approached the counter and held out the drink. 

Kakashi gave her an apologetic smile as he took it. “I’ll, uh, just take this to one of the tables outside,” he said, and within a few moments he’d herded his dogs back through the door, and Sakura was once more left alone with her boss. 

Quickly busying herself by wiping down the hot bar, Sakura was startled when the silence was broken by Hana slamming down a whipped cream canister and a stack of shot cups beside her. 

“When you give out whipped cream for dogs, you need to adjust the cup tally on the inventory sheet,” Hana scolded. “Don’t call them ‘puppuccinos’ again until I can verify that Starbucks doesn’t have that copyrighted.”

“Yes ma’am,” Sakura said, hope rising in her chest.

“Go take a break,” Hana finished gruffly.

Sakura blinked. She was always by herself in the shop on Wednesdays, so she never took a break. “But I don’t take breaks on—”

“Fuck’s sake, Haruno, know a good thing when you hear it!” Hana said in exasperation. “Take. A. Break.” And she shoved the whipped cream and cups toward her. 

A silly grin threatened to break across Sakura’s features, and she quickly repressed it. “Of course, Hana. Thank you!” she said sincerely, albeit quickly, as she slid out from behind the register and beelined toward the door.

“Fifteen minutes!” Hana called after her, and she might have muttered something else, but Sakura was already out the door. 

Letting the door shut behind her, still holding the cups and whipped cream canister in her hand, Sakura looked toward the table that Kakashi stood beside. And maybe it was the charmingly shamefaced grin he had, or all of the built-up tension of the last ten minutes—or maybe it was the pile of dogs who were crammed around his feet. But Sakura couldn’t hold it in anymore, and she burst into slightly hysterical laughter.

“I can’t—believe—you brought—eight dogs in here,” she gasped between giggles, and Kakashi’s grin grew as he watched her, his eyes warm. “I thought Hana was going to kill me. Or you.” 

“Are you impressed yet? Because I’ve kind of run out of dogs and I promised Pakkun I wouldn’t adopt another one for at least a year.” Kakashi carefully stepped out of the pile of dogs and toward her, plucking the stack of cups and whipped cream from her hands and placing them on the table behind him. “Hey, do you think Hana can see us from inside the shop right now?”

Perplexed by the apparent change in topic, Sakura answered, “Well… no? She’s probably too far back to be able to see this table from—”

Sakura cut herself off as Kakashi dipped his head down close to hers, her breath catching in her throat. “Good,” he murmured, and with one hand raising to cup her face, he pressed his lips to hers. 

She didn’t react at first, completely stunned by this turn of events. But when he went to pull away, her courage finally decided to show up, and she leaned toward him, throwing her arms around his neck and kissing him back with an enthusiasm that Ino would’ve been proud of. 

Kakashi hummed low in his throat in response, his free hand finding the small of her back. When she pulled back slightly to take a breath, he smiled at her, and she smiled back.

“You know, I probably shouldn’t show up here again… at least not for a while,” he said as she slowly moved back a little, her face warming as her actions caught up to her.

“At least not with so many dogs,” she quipped, biting her lip. 

“You’re off tomorrow, right?” he asked, and when she nodded, he continued, “Let me take you to dinner. No dogs.” 

“I don’t know…” Sakura hedged, trying not to grin. “I’m kind of only in it for the dogs.” The fact that Uhei chose that moment to come and sit on her foot made the grin break through.

Kakashi laughed, somewhat ruefully. “How about dinner and a dog park afterward?” 

“Yeah… that sounds fun,” Sakura said, beaming. 

Sakura didn’t miss Kakashi’s quiet, relieved sigh as she bent slightly to stroke Uhei’s head, much to the dog’s obvious tail-wagging pleasure. 

“Now then,” she continued, reaching past Kakashi for the cups and whipped cream, directing her attention toward the dogs. “Who wants a generic equivalent, definitely-not-copyright-infringement cup of whipped cream?”


End file.
